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branching out…

Happy Friday everyone! We did it, we made it to the end of the first week of reality! Congratulations everyone, I’ll raise a mango smoothie to that (dry and vegan January doesn’t really lend itself to going wild on a weekend)! How did you find it? Craving the weekend? Personally, I found it surprisingly easy, although having said that, I am at work again tomorrow, so maybe ask me again on Sunday?

Anyway done with niceties and on to, well more niceness.

Today I am talking about myself, the shameless selfie on the right, meeting the wonderful and beautiful lady on the left, Holly from A Branch of Holly. IN REAL LIFE.

Capital letters entirely justified, because this was my first ever time at meeting some one I had met through blogging!

I’ve been blogging for over two years now, but I’d say I only really became a blogger last year. That is when I started to dedicate myself not only to this space, but to blogging as a whole. I started to get more involved in reading others peoples blogs and began to feel like I was part of something. Having discussions that flowed two ways through commenting. And eventually I began to feel like I knew the people behind the immaculately well designed interface and wonderfully worded content.

Holly was definitely one of the first of these. I visit her site every day and when I read her posts I feel like we are completely and utterly on the same wave length. And then the universe started making signs that maybe we weren’t only linked up through an internet connection but offline too.

It turns out Holly went to the same University as me, knew some of the same people as me, and now even works in the same geographical location as me. We decided to listen to what the universe was telling us and just go for a coffee (or a hot chocolate in her case, oh, and a cake each too).

So, I don’t know if you’ve ever dabbled with online dating, but I have, and when meeting through a computer screen, you wonder how much like their online projection someone is offline. This, I found, is also true for meeting bloggers. Although admittedly, I wasn’t worried that Holly would be smaller than her pictures suggested (something I have been severely disappointed by when online dating). But all those questions and nerves disappeared the moment Holly walked up.

I’m making this sound a bit too much like a love story, and I hope it isn’t weirding you or Holly out too much.

What I am trying to say is that Holly, thankfully, is EXACTLY the person you imagine her to be when reading her posts. She’s quietly confident, switched on, and incredibly well dressed (I, on the other hand, had red wellies on, that I’m pretty sure were meant for a child). It was so nice to meet her in real life, and find out that, not only did we have the same broadband connection, but we were in fact on the same wave length.

And that is the best thing about the blogging community is the honesty that people put out there. Of course, just like with online dating, you find one or two blogs projecting only the best bits of a person, making tiny white lies about how much of a morning person they are, and how often they spend walking on a beach at sunlight, but those blogs you can normally spot a mile off. The ones that you become loyal too, that you check every day, that feel more like a letter from a friend than a facebook message does, those are the blogs, where you believe in the person behind the keyboard. The ones where you feel that every word is honest and true, and spoken to you. Those are the best bloggers. Those are the ones you want to meet in real life. And I’d like to say thank you to Holly for showing me this, and not making my first blog meet experience as horrific as my first online date was.

If you’ve not been lucky enough to meet Holly in real person, then go and read her blog, and you’ll feel like you know her in no time. My favourite posts lately are:

Like this:

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9 thoughts on “branching out…”

Oh Stephie, you’ve brightened up my day, my week and my life! It just goes to show how lovely of a person you are that you dedicate a blog post to connecting with people in the blogging community.

I was smiling and then laughing as I was reading this post – especially when I got to the bit about it sounding like a love story! It also put the Taylor Swift song in my head… but I’m just so glad that the universe wanted us to meet!

I remember coming across your blog, beginning to read it every day (which I still do) and thinking, I’d really like to meet her – isn’t it incredible how things can turn out?

You’ve actually sort of stumped me for words because I’m just so thankful and happy with what you’ve written. And I can’t stop smiling! Thank you so so much Stephie, you’re amazing and I can’t wait for our next meet up 🙂

Awww Stefanie, this was such a lovely read! I have been reading Holly’s blog for a while and I’m thrilled to know that she’s as sweet in real life as she appears. I haven’t met any other bloggers yet but I hope that if I do I have such a good experience.

Oh I’m sure you will! I’ve been wanting to meet other bloggers for a while, but I just have no idea how to find out about ‘bloggers meet ups’ and when I do see anything they all seem to happen in London! Maybe a bunch of us should get our heads together, as it seems to me there are a couple of us who all seem to read and love one another’s blogs xx

I came across your blog and was reading your most recent post about monday morning and its so funny I was thinking a lot of the same things you were about Holly’s blog. I was going to comment about how much I liked your writing style, that I truly felt like a friend in your living room but then I kept reading to the post about meeting another blogger. Really enjoyed both these posts. Keep it up!

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Hello and welcome to Tea in your Twenties! Thanks for stopping by my little spot on the internet where I chat all things, life, love, tea and theatre. I hope you pop the kettle on and stay a while,
Stephie x

If you would like to get in touch about anything at all, please email me at stephanieclaire@teacuptheatre.com I'd love to hear from you!

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